ORIGINAL Elephant Painting Incredible

Watch this elephant paint a beautiful image of an elephant holding a flower. You'll be amazed at how her talent unfolds as she carefully completes
each stroke. Her mahout talks to her throughout the process as his gentle touch gives her confidence. She focuses on her work and seems to enjoy the
approval of the audience and, of course, the sugar cane and banana treats. All of her training has been reward based.

So touched by their horrific backgrounds and loving personalities, ExoticWorldGifts.com now supports, "Starving Elephant Artisans" by selling their
paintings so they can continue to have a new life in Thailand. Own a print of the art for $15.

Some Thai elephant experts believe that the survival of the Asian elephant species will most likely depend on the good treatment of the elephants in
well managed privately owned elephant camps. All of us would prefer that all of the elephants be free to be in the wild. For many reasons, that is not
possible at this time.

The video is real, but it's important to note that the painting this "self-portrait" -- a male by the name of Paya who resides in the Maesa
Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai, Thailand -- has been painstakingly trained to produce this image, and may even be receiving off-camera hand or voice
directions from a "mahout," or trainer...This animal did not go through horrible tortures in order to learn how to move a stick in the way an human
would do....Also i have to note i cant even paint as good as that elephant!Humans truly do under estimate the intelligence of other animals

I know
this was posted before along time ago but i thought it was worth posting again
Peace,sugarcookie1

My absolute all time favourite and I met a wild one on holiday once, it was scary.
He was an angry bull but did nothing more than look at me before wrecking a tree or two.

Lucky me!

I got to see a skull lying in the middle of the Okavango Delta. Sad, but poignant. They teach each other the grazing and migration routes and are just
so clever it's almost human like. Oh yes, they can emit sounds that are detectable miles away and are generally quite peaceful animals until you get
too close to angry bulls or moms with calves. I love Heffalumps!

ETA Aww, I hadn't even watched the video on my first comment, as soon as I press play my eyes get all moist! I've seen elephant painting before but
this is cuuuute!

Some reserves do unfortunately allow a certain number of elephants (South Africa I believe) to be shot by rich tourists. I heard the figure of 10,000
dollars stated. It is not the norm though from what I understand and trying it on non-approving, non nature reserve areas could lead to your death due
to anti-poaching regulations and measures. I was in a national park in Zimbabwe and was warned that leaving the truck or the group could make me a
target for the Rangers patrolling the park. In this case it was because of the White Rhino they were trying to preserve. Unfortunately, it is the
white man that is responsible for the state Africa is in today and no one else.

My absolute all time favourite and I met a wild one on holiday once, it was scary.
He was an angry bull but did nothing more than look at me before wrecking a tree or two.

Lucky me!

I got to see a skull lying in the middle of the Okavango Delta. Sad, but poignant. They teach each other the grazing and migration routes and are just
so clever it's almost human like. Oh yes, they can emit sounds that are detectable miles away and are generally quite peaceful animals until you get
too close to angry bulls or moms with calves. I love Heffalumps!

ETA Aww, I hadn't even watched the video on my first comment, as soon as I press play my eyes get all moist! I've seen elephant painting before but
this is cuuuute!

love elephants also i thought wow they are smart the best i could draw is a stick figure..I read somewhere that the bull elephants can get mean and
take down a few trees and turn over big trucks..thank you for posting,peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by Amanda5
Beautiful! At last a story about kindness while working with animals as opposed to keeping them in laboratories and doing unimaginable cruelty - in
the name of science.

Very uplifting to see such a graceful large animal engaged in a peaceful activity - as long as only voice prompts and elephant treats were used I can
live with that.

Art - let's give everyone paper and paint and pencils!

Much Peace...

I've seen some videos of the horrible abuse thats been done to these beautiful elephant 's it was heart breaking so it was nice to see these being
treated with dignity and they seemed to enjoy what they were doing..peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by RenegadeScholar
Very cool and skillful, but was this freeform? If so, then this video is mind blowing in terms of how we underestimate the intelligence of animals.

But I have a feeling the elephant is just repeating an image it has practiced doing over and over, probably traced. I would be very happy if anybody
could prove this statement wrong!

I believe the elephants were showed over and over how to do this but rewarded with treats ..Im sure it was freeform but in the beginning of learning
it was traced but still it shows just how smart the elephants are..peace,sugarcookie1

Even if the Elephant is "trained" to paint a certain image it still takes a huge amount of intelligence to remember how to draw, what to draw, etc.
Imagine trying to train your dog to paint a picture of a dog, it just couldn't comprehend what to do no matter how many times you tried to teach it
to.

A bunch of people are saying that they beat the elephants in order to make them do it. I don't know how true it is, but I wouldn't
doubt it.

I know this because I live and work with elephants here in Thailand. No elephant﻿ in the world teaches themselves to paint. Every elephant here
paints the same pictures. They're all the same because they are forced to do it. I've seen the training myself. A brush is taped to the trunk and they
are guided over about 1 month to paint a specific picture. They are hit with a bull hook to the back of the head if they make a mistake. Sorry to
spoil your illusions but trust me it's the truth, I seen it.

The elephant with the injured front leg was from a landmine in an illegal logging operation on the Burmese border. Basically every elephant you
see painting, in a trekking camp or doing circus tricks has been pajaan trained. They are put in a wooden crate and brutally beaten for up to 1﻿
week in order to break their spirit. Every elephant that paints has been through this. Please be responsible and do not buy products from Thailand
that ridicule and cause harm to our national symbol.

That was my first thought as well - the idea that any other animal besides man could translate a 3d image in 2 dimensions through art would have been
a new one on me.
That said he (she) does have an elegant touch and shows amazing dexterity in handling a brush.

I wonder when humans will start to share this planet with our amazing animal friends, instead of killing them.
I think this just shows the top of the iceberg compared to how much more we have to learn about animals awareness.

I had a book Why Elephants Paint. From what it stated, true or not, they have handlers that take care of them 24/7. A single person per elephant. That
person stays with the elephant and accommodates their every wish. I also have heard of abuse, but these are people who all but worship and adore these
creatures. I hope that is the case and what was in the book was true. The pics in this book are the best part, there are lots of paintings featured
and they are beautiful.

Unfortunately, it is the white man that is responsible for the state Africa is in today and no one else.

What? Can you please clarify your post? How is it the White Man's fault? If it weren't for the billions of dollars that White Man sends over, Africa
would be worse off than it already is. This thread is about Elephants, and you try to make it racial?

Elephants are incredible creatures, and it is a shame that they are being poached to extinction. I would love to have one of those paintings! I have
often thought of collecting art done by animals, and this is just the motivation to do it! Thank you OP for the wonderful thread!!!

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